See The Video: Swap-O-Matic Vending Machine Allows Consumers To Exchange Goods For Free

Jan 20, 2012

The Swap-O-Matic vending machine, which distributes recycled goods among its users free of cost, according to The Los Angeles Times. For the full story, click here.

Editor’s Insight: This is an interesting concept, but there is a big flaw in it: the space restrictions limit what you can put in the machine. Many items consumers want to discard, such as apparel items, will not fit in this machine.

Recycling advocates will support this concept, and the enthusiasm of the recycling community could do a lot to encourage the use of this machine, but their enthusiasm alone won’t make it a viable concept.

The designers deserve credit for using a traditional retail concept such as a vending machine to serve a new purpose. They were highly creative in using traditional 1950s style graphics for the machine. 01-20-12 By Elliot Maras